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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not be naming “regional ministers” despite a long tradition of prime ministers, including his father Pierre, designating regional czars to be their eyes and ears across the country. And if Trudeau holds to that commitment, it could be a problem for a province like B.C., which has a particular need for a single conduit to deal with major regional issues, say former cabinet ministers.

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On a day with many fresh faces emerging onto the national political stage and many worn-out ones already departed, a reminder about the things, good and bad, that accompany public life, from one who has been there.

Karyn L. Freedman won the National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for her memoir of a violent rape and its ensuing trauma. Freedman said she wrote One Hour in Paris: A True Story of Rape and Recovery to help survivors of sexual violence feel less isolated so they see the value in speaking out.

The federal and B.C. governments are investigating damage or alteration to three Fraser Valley streams discovered during the course of research by The Vancouver Sun. The Sun was examining the impact of farming on fish habitat when it made the discoveries, working in cooperation with a consulting biologist.

OTTAWA — The federal Fisheries Department risks losing the confidence of the public and own staff because of cuts and changes in direction after the 2012 budget, according to its own performance review. The department’s current “priorities and policies” could also provoke costly legal actions, according to a report tabled in the House of Commons this week.

The Harper government has failed to take meaningful action to protect the declining Fraser River sockeye, one year after a landmark report tabled 75 concrete suggestions, according to former Tory fisheries minister John Fraser and a group of conservationists.

OTTAWA — The Harper government, accused of an “unacceptable” delay in responding to last year’s Fraser River salmon inquiry report, insists it’s following Justice Bruce Cohen’s recommendations. Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said the government has, in the past year, announced a $10 million program to support local fisheries conservation projects. The 2013 budget included more money for the Pacific Salmon Foundation, a non-profit group involved in salmon conservation.

OTTAWA — The Harper government has missed another self-imposed deadline to bring into force the controversial Fisheries Act amendments passed last year. The provisions, which were included in the 2012 federal budget omnibus bill, were initially supposed to be in place in January. That deadline was moved to June as the department struggled with deep personnel cuts and morale issues, as cited in internal emails.

OTTAWA — Implementation of the Harper government’s sweeping changes to the Fisheries Act, intended to make life easier for developers, has been stalled inside a Fisheries Department facing “a very stressful and uncertain” period of transition, according to internal documents. The changes were included in last spring’s federal budget, but the target to fully implement them has slipped from last month to June, the documents say.

Still boyish at 70, Ian Waddell sipped a coffee, his eyes alight with the ghosts of Christmas past, gleefully recalling what was probably Canada’s first consumer class-action. “Forty years ago, on Dec. 28,” intoned the lawyer, former politician, raconteur and author. “BC Hydro was ordered to return $350,000 to 12,500 people. We won. And I didn’t get a dime.”

VICTORIA — B.C.’s Conflict Commissioner Paul Fraser says he sees no problem investigating an allegation against Premier Christy Clark, even though his son is a longtime friend of Clark’s and works as a senior official within her government. “I don’t perceive a problem in making a decision in this case that will have nothing to do with my son’s career,” Fraser said Thursday in response to a question on the issue by The Vancouver Sun.

The Harper government has announced major cuts to its fisheries habitat protection program, prompting a retired federal biologist to warn Wednesday of a dramatic increase in the risk of environmental damage.

Federal commitments to streamline environmental reviews of major resource projects sit well with the mining industry, but not so well with environmentalists, scientists and many other notable Canadians. Miners have been a leading voice in calling on the Harper Conservatives to amend the review process to remove what they believe are needless delays in getting projects vetted by federal regulators.

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